TikTok Song Says “Original Sound”? How to Find the Real Song

You're scrolling, a song plays under a TikTok, and it's stuck in your head before the video even loops. You check the bottom of the screen and it just says "original sound". The comments are full of people asking "what's the song??" and nobody answers.

Here are five ways to find it, from the quickest to the one that works when everything else fails.

1. Tap the sound name at the bottom of the video

Every TikTok shows the audio it uses in a scrolling label at the bottom of the screen. Tap it (or the spinning disc on the right) and TikTok opens the sound's page: the song name, the artist, and every other video using it.

This works perfectly when the creator used a song from TikTok's library. It doesn't help when the label says "original sound", "original audio" or the creator's name. That means they uploaded the audio themselves, often a sped-up, slowed or remixed version, so TikTok doesn't know what the song is either.

2. Check the caption, hashtags and comments

Creators often name the song in the caption or a hashtag. If not, open the comments and look for replies like "song?" or "what's the song". Someone has usually answered, and the answer is often pinned or liked to the top. Sort through the most-liked comments first.

3. Use Shazam while the video plays

If you have Shazam on your phone, start it and switch back to TikTok while the video plays. Shazam can listen to audio playing on the same phone, so you don't need a second device.

The catch: you need the app installed, it doesn't help on a laptop or Chromebook, and it struggles with heavily edited "original sound" versions, just like every other recognition tool.

4. Upload the video to SoundCatch

This is the easiest option if you already saved the video, you're on a computer, or Shazam isn't installed. SoundCatch takes the sound straight from the video file and finds the song, in any browser, with no app and no account.

Your video never leaves your device. SoundCatch extracts a short sound clip in your browser and only sends that clip to be identified. It works with MP4 and MOV videos from TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and screen recordings, plus MP3 and M4A audio files.

5. Hum it if the video is gone

Scrolled past and can't find the TikTok again? If the tune is still in your head, open SoundCatch, switch to Hum it, and hum or sing the melody for 10 seconds. You'll get a list of likely matches. More on that in our guide to finding a song by humming.

Which method should you use?

Why "original sound" songs are hard to identify

Song recognition works by matching the audio against a huge database of real recordings. TikTok sounds often aren't the real recording: they're sped up, slowed down, pitched, cut together or covered by a voice-over. The further an edit drifts from the original, the harder it is for any tool to match it, Shazam included.

Tips that help:

• Pick the clearest part. If the start is mostly talking, trim or screen-record the part where the music is loudest.
• Try the sound's page. Even an "original sound" page sometimes shows the song in other creators' captions.
• Search with the edit in mind. Once you have a guess, search "song name sped up" or "slowed" on YouTube or Spotify. Popular TikTok edits are often uploaded there too.
• Hum the melody. Humming matches the tune rather than the exact recording, so it can work when the audio itself is too edited.

Does this work for Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts?

Yes. The same steps work for any short video: save or screen-record it, then upload it to SoundCatch. On a computer, the Chrome extension can also identify songs playing in any browser tab, including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube on the web, even with headphones on.

Read more: Find a Song by Humming · Identify a Song Playing on Your Computer · Shazam for Desktop

Free music tools: Vocal range test · BPM & key finder · Ringtone maker